


Can You Stay?

by cheerfulparadigm



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Sea Salt Family, angst-ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-12-23 22:40:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21088964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheerfulparadigm/pseuds/cheerfulparadigm
Summary: Everyone was safe—everyone was home—but, even now, Axel’s hands shook with the fear that he was dreaming, that it might all be ripped away at a moment’s notice.





	Can You Stay?

**Author's Note:**

> i love the sea salt trio with my entire heart and i love how much axel loves them 
> 
> directly post-kh3. 
> 
> prompt: "can you stay?"

_ It’s over. _

Looking out at the sunset-colored ocean, finally having a moment to  _ breathe _ —it almost doesn’t feel real. 

Everyone was safe—everyone was  _ home _ —but, even now, Axel’s hands shook with the fear that he was dreaming, that it might all be ripped away at a moment’s notice. 

_ Destiny Islands.  _ He could have laughed at the weighty nature of the whimsical name. It implied the start of a journey, or, perhaps, the fulfillment of one. Axel could only hope it was the latter. 

He tried to release his trepidations in a long breath, stepping back inside the temporary home they had so graciously been given. 

Blonde hair mixed with whisps of black as Roxas and Xion sat leaned against each other on the softest piece of furniture they could find, dozing. Their eyes had shut almost as soon as they arrived. 

Axel’s eyes felt just as heavy, but he kept his gaze on their breaths, slowly rising and falling—a reminder, something tangible that made their presence real. 

The sound of quiet footsteps snapped him from his dazed reverie. Saïx— _ Isa _ —stood in the doorway, dark jacket unzipped and hanging loosely off his shoulders.

He looked calm, almost peaceful in a way Axel hadn’t seen in years. His sharp eyes were back to their familiar blue, and Axel could have cried at the sight. 

“You’re still here.” Axel breathed out, surprised. He wouldn’t admit it aloud, but something—a nagging anxiety in the back of his mind—was still afraid that even with his humanity restored, Isa would still choose to leave him behind. 

“Where else would I go?” He says it matter-of-factly, as if it were obvious. His voice was as cool and detached as it always was, but the weight of the implication still knocked the air out of Axel’s chest. 

He paused in the silence that followed. His eyes drift back to Roxas and Xion before landing on Axel again. “But if you’d rather me leave—” 

“No.” Axel’s protest is impulsive, quick. “I— Can you stay?” He can’t begin to piece the reasons why into words, to give names to the anxieties swirling in his ribcage. 

But, as always, Isa need not ask. He knows Axel’s whole heart—just as he does Isa’s. His gaze softens as he steps closer. “Of course, Lea.” 

He’s the only one that still calls him that name—makes it a point to do so. 

Axel’s form almost sags with weariness, with release, with the feeling of the truest loves. 

They were here now. And finally, they could rest. 

**Author's Note:**

> still working on my kh writing. let me know if i'm doing okay.


End file.
